When In SOLDIER
by Hexaflare
Summary: They always told you that SOLDIER was an 'equal opportunity for both men and women' but boy-o-boy, were they talking complete crap. I'm the first female member of SOLDIER, this is my story, from Recruit to SOLDIER 1st Class. I DO NOT own FFVII
1. Chapter 1

_**When In SOLDIER**_

_Dear Diary ~ 12th November xxxx_

_They always told you that SOLDIER was an 'equal opportunity for both men and women' but boy-o-boy, were they talking complete and utter bull. The name's Marona Hakashi, but most of the Recruits know me as Maro, I won't let them call me anything else. I'm a Recruit in SOLDIER, along with good old Zackary Fair (Good thing he's never going to read this, cause if I called him to his face, he'd probably rip me apart, then slice me into tiny little bits with that bloody buster sword of his...). I met Zack on my very first day of training... Almost seems like it was just last week... Lets phrase it this way, ol' sour puss (Lieutenant McGivern... *shudders*) told us all to stand up and introduce ourselves and where we came from. When it came to my turn... well... the number of people shouting at me to get out of SOLDIER was unbelievable. It went on for five minutes, and ol' sour puss did _nothing_to stop them. That's when Zack stood up and told them all (very impolitely, might I add) to shut the fuck up. Zack was my first friend, and, throughout most of our harsh training, my only friend. This is where you join me today, two days before our Final Exam, and the day where all of that training should pay off... please note... I said SHOULD..._

_End of Entry_

Maro sat up, Gackt playing quietly in the background, drowning out all of her worries about the upcoming Final Exam. Her dark red hair slid back over her shoulders, revealing mako eyes, the typical mako glow replaced by a dim red glow instead. She had been the very first Recruit to have the new 'Red Mako' tested on her, and she had survived. However, the were not willing to test it on anyone else yet, or so they said. She closed the little black bound diary in front of her and slid it into an open drawer on her desk, closing it quietly. She pushed back with her feet, rolling the desk chair backwards to the CD player behind her, the clock on top read 05:43am. She shook her head and pressed the skip button so that the song switched from Longing to Redemption, then hit repeat. Her eyes flicked to the door beside the CD unit. That was the door separating her from Zack, since he was right next door to her.

_Chances of Zack waking up by himself today, fairly high, but still... _she thought, standing up and tapping on the door as her chair rolled away, _He was up til' about 4 revising... then again, I just didn't bother going to sleep... at least we only have to do Role-Call today, then we have the entire day to ourselves._She pushed down on the handle and pushed the door open. It slid silently on it's well oiled hinges, opening just enough for her to get into Zack's room without being herd, and closing it silently behind her. Her eyes darted around the room once, before settling on the lump on the bed in the far corner. However, to get over to the bed, she needed to find her way through the clothes and book scattered all over his floor.

"Relax, I'm... awake," said a sleepy voice from the bed as an arm snaked out from under the covers and turned on the table lamp, "What time is it?" Maro's eyes flicked to the clock as Zack forced himself to sit up, blankets falling off of his shoulders, revealing his well toned chest, something that Marohad learned to ignore fairly quickly, since he had a really bad habit of walking between their two rooms with no shirt on.

"Ten to six..." she replied, stepping gracefully over to the bed and sitting on it, "We only have Role-Call today, and that's it, so, up you get, then we can force a can of energy drink or something like that down your throat to keep you awake." Zack just groaned and fell backwards again, trying to pull the covers back over his head at the same time. He just managed to cover himself up again,when Maro grabbed the bottom of them and pulled them out of his grasp. Zack growled and sat up, making a grab for the blankets as Maro stood up to get out of range of his arms. He leaned as far forward as he could, then toppled off the side of the bed, landing in a heap on the floor. Maro snickered as Zack glared at her from the floor.

"Evil, pure evil..." he mumbled, forcing himself onto his feet, "Well, I'm up now, so I might as well repay you for all the food you brought with you last week, so I'll buy lunch today, how does that sound?" Marojust nodded, throwing the blankets back onto the bed. She opened the door to go back into her room, just as her alarm went off, blaring out of her black flip phone as high as the volume would go. That meant it was 6am, time to get ready for Role-Call, which was at 7:00am. "Hey, I just remembered, it's a full weapon inspection with Role-Call today!" Maro's jaw dropped.

"Oh bugger..." she said, closing her mouth and bolting across her room to the bed, "I really should have done this last night, I totally forgot about this... Oh, Genesis is going to massacre me!" Maro reached under her bed, hand fumbling around in the darkness for her sword, which was a shorter and lighter copy of the one that Genesis used, but rather than being red, this one was such a dark purple, that it was almost black. The main reason that she was panicking was because Genesis was the one that had taught her how to fight with a sword, his sword in fact. She had learned so quickly, that she was the first to receive her own weapon, a full 2 weeks before anyone else, bar Zack, who had been given one a week after her. That's the reason she has a copy of it, lighter for speed, and shortened to correspond to her height, since she was a good 3 1/2 inches shorter than Genesis. As prepared as she was, the one thing that she would panic about is the full weapon inspection. She put the weapon in her left hand and went back under the bed. "Where the hell is that polish... I know it's under here..."

"No it's not," stated Zack, who was sitting in the doorway polishing his Buster sword.

"I put it under here..." replied Maro, lying on her side to try and find the elusive polish tin, "I remember putting it under here..."

"No, you didn't," said Zack, shaking his head, and looking at the CD player, on top of it, beside the alarm clock, was the polish tin, "I found it, it's on the CD player." Maro turned over to look, and, sure enough, there was that stupid polish tin. Maro groaned in irritation.

"Stupi, useless polish," she grumbled, rolling over competely to face Zack, "Why in the name of hell is it on my CD player anyway!?"

"You put it there 2 days ago..." replied Zack, concentrating on polishing his sword, "Just after Genesis gave it to you... It's that new 'colour protection' polish that he was going on about..." Maro growled and got up off the floor, her sword in her left hand, it's razor sharp tip behind her.

"You know more about my polish than I do," she said, walking over to the CD player and lifting the tin of polish, "Hey, have you got a spare cloth? I put mine in the wash last night..." Zack's hair shifted slightly as he shifted to reach his back pocket. He yanked out a grey cloth and threw it at her, not once looking away from his buster sword. She caught it and sat down in front of him, such was their ritual when polishing their swords.

"That's yours anyway," he said, eyes still not leaving the broad, gleaming blade that was across his knees, "I borrowed it last week when mine ripped..." Maro just shrugged and set the polish on the floor beside her leg. Her eyes flicked to the CD player, suddenly aware of the lack of music in the room. She reached up and pressed the play button. Gackt started playing quietly once more, as she took the lid off of the polish and set about making her sword shine like the stars in the night sky. She was, however, unaware of Zack, who had stopped polishing his buster sword to watch her.


	2. Chapter 2 Memories

Konichiwa! Sorry it's taken so long to update, for some reason, those stupid teachers decided to give us large ammounts of work over the holidays, bunch of evil bastards that they are... and then christmas and all that crap....... Anyway, here's hoping that chapter 2 keeps you interested, and please review, it would be appreciated. Also, this fic is no longer a ZackXOC fic, it's a one sided Zack fic, as I have a plan for a sequel, and you will find out why eventualy, but, until then, you will just have to be patient.

Signed:  
Dead Memories of Final Fantasy

**_Disclaimer - _**I do NOT own Final Fantasy, or anyting created by Square Enix, the only thing I own here is that main plot, and Maro, if I owned Final Fantasy, I would NOT be writing this. (Actually, I would, but that's not the point!)

_**When In SOLDIER - Chapter 2**_

By 06:25am, Maro's sword was as clean as it could possibly get. She stood up, sword in hand, and smiled cheerfuly at Zack. She carefully shut the door connecting her room to Zack's, and turned to set the sword on her bed. Just as she placed the sword down, her phone began to ring, playing out Last Song by Gackt, which meant that it could only be one person, (since all of her contacts had a specific ring tone) it had to be Reno, either that or it was Rude using Reno's phone again. She grabbed the phone and flipped it open, holding it between her fore-finger and thumb, before raising it up to her ear.

"Hello?" she asked, hearing a muffled grunt from the other end of the phone.

"Hey, Maro," came Reno's voice, far to chirpy for this time of the day, kinda like Zack, that is, when Zack's not sleep deprived, "Havin' a party tonight at my place, the usual crowd, Zack included, wanna come?"

"Last time I went to one of your party's, I didn't make it home, Reno," Maro stated, her voice dull, "I ended up sleeping on-"

"A certain 1st Class SOLDIER'S couch," finished Reno, snickering on the other end of the phone, "Relax, I'll make sure you make it back this time, and besides, Zack didn't make it as far as you did, he only made it to my bathroom! Come on, you know you want to, it'll be a laugh." Maro sighed. Arguing with Reno was like arguing with a brick wall, it was impossible. "Pleeeeeeeease?" came the whine that always made her give in, it was worse still when he was right in front of you, pouting like a small child.

"Fine, I'll come, just stop bugging me..." She said, groaning down the phone, "I'm not sure about Zack, he want to bed less than three hours ago... but I'll ask him... now, kindle fuck off, so I can get ready for this stupid Full Weapon Inspection..."

"Aww, I love you too," he chimed, just to annoy her, since he was nowhere near her, if he had been, she would have kicked him in the Sinclair family jewls him by now, "Bye!"

"beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-" the tone was cut off as Maro smacked the phone shut, making a mental note to kick him in the shins later. Maro shuddered as a memory of one of Reno's party's floated to the front of her mind.

((FLASHBACK))

_(10pm)_

_"God, nothing could be more embarrassing than having your mentor pick you up off the floor at like, 1am after being completely pissed out of your cunt," said Maro to a slightly tipsy Zack, a shot glass in her hand, "Then waking up on their couch and going 'What the fuck?' Why does that sound like something that would happen to one of us?" Maro downed the shot of Vodka in her hand before grabbing the bottle from Reno as he walked past. Zack just shrugged and downed his shot, waiting for Maro to give him a refill._

_(Three Hours Later ~ Unremembered by poor Maro)_

_Genesis awoke to the sound of a loud thump outside his apartment door. He raised an eyebrow as he stood up from the couch, barely noting that he had fallen asleep on it again, whit the light on, as a small white book fell to the floor. He paused only to pick up the book, then crossed the room to the apartment door. He turned the key, and opened the door, his eyes met with an oddly funny sight. Lying on the floor, curled into a ball, was Maro, the Recruit that he had chosen to train. He could smell the Vodka that was exhaled on her breath. Genesis merely smiled and lifted her up gently, so as not to wake her. He tookher inside and placing her gently on the couch. Then, pulling a blanket seemingly from nowhere, he covered her up, then went back over to the door and shut it quietly. He walked silently over to the other door in the room, which led into his own bedroom, and turned out the light, before going into his room and closing the door quietly behind himself._

_(Next Morning ~ 10:30am)_

_Maro's eyes blinked open, vaguely aware of someone turning a page in a book. She muttered something incoherent then forced herself to sit up. Her head, oddly, wasn't as sore as it should have been, considering the fact that she drank almost twice as much as Zack had. She looked around, frowning as she realised that she had no idea where she was. She had to find Zack._

_"So, you decided to join the world again, little one?" asked a voice from the corner of the room, but it wasn't the voice she was expecting to hear, "Need any pain killers yet?" Her head whipped round, eyes landing on on Genesis, her own mentor, and another man, standing with his back to her. Long silver hair, black coat, and very large, very sharp Katana... That could only be one person, the Hero General himself, Sephiroth. Maro sat there, mind racing, heart thumping, blood rushing in her ears. Genesis was speaking, but she couldn't hear him over the blood in her ears._

Oh my god... _she thought, eyes still wide as the man turned around, revealing that it was indeed the Hero General, _This has to be the most embarrassing thing that could happen to me, what could possibly go wrong now!? _What the poor girl hadn't realised, is that she had been slowly leaning forward. She only noticed when she lost her grip on the side of the couch and landed face first on the floor of her mentor's apartment. By the time she realised what had happened, and how it had happened, the General had picked her up and sat her back on the couch._

_"Are you alright, little one?" asked Genesis, laughter in his voice, "You look like you're going to pass out on me at any second." Maro was indeed pale as a sheet of white paper, and the fact that she was shaking probably just made her look ever weaker in the eyes of the great Hero General. "Does Sephiroth scare you, little one?" Maro could barely manage a small nod, but even so, it was not lost on Genesis, or Sephiroth. Genesis smiled slightly, and Sephiroth merely chuckled quietly, before crouching down in front of the petrified Recruit._

_"I'm not going to kill you, you know," said Sephiroth, a gentle smile on his handsome face._

_"I'm weak, I... do not deserve to live and serve under someone as great as you, Sir," Maro said shakily, a tear rolling down either cheek, as the General placed a hand on her shoulder._

_"Never call yourself weak," he replied, making an attempt to comfort the poor Recruit, who was now crying, "Do not assume that because something scares you, that you are weak, admitting that your afraid of something is true bravery, and those who hide their fear, often get into serious trouble, when they freeze in battle. If something scares you, tell someone, and ask for some advice, or even some help, don't keep it inside, it's not healthy. Even I have my fears." Maro was shocked, the great General had _FEARS_!?_

_"Y-you have fears, Sir?" she asked shakily, not wanting to be reprimanded for asking._

_"Indeed I do have fears," he stated, standing up and setting the girl onto her feet, helping her to stand, "If I am honest, I'm not overly keen on spiders." Maro snorted, forcing herself not to laugh, but she looked at Genesis, who was almost in fits himself, and burst into hysterics. "Laughter helps to mend a broken spirit, even if it is at my expense." Then the General too, started to laugh._

((END FLASHBACK))

Maro couldn't help but laugh at the memory, it was just so funny. She sighed and picked up her Recruit uniform, which consisted of a white shirt, a black jacket, and black combats, finished with a pair of black steel toe-capped boots. She got changed quickly, pausing for less than 2 minutes to brush her hair and tie it back for Role-Call. She was ready to go by ten to seven, sword in hand and waiting patiently for Zack. She could hear him complaining as he tapped on the door, before walking straight in.

"Lets get going!" he shouted, grabbing her arm and dragging her out the door and into the hallway where the other Recruits were starting to emerge from their rooms, many of them looking absolutely shattered, most had probably been up all night revising, just like she had, and those that had went to sleep, were more tired than those that hadn't bothered to go to bed. Zack dragged her down the corridor at a run, not willing to be late for Role-Call, since if you were, you were given a detention straight away. In less than 3 minutes, they were out on the Parade Grounds at the back of the Shin-Ra building, ready to have their weapons inspected, then told to fuck off for the rest of the day. The only reason that Maro even remembered Reno's party, was because Reno appeared from nowhere and hugged her from behind, causing her to jump a foot in the air in fright.

"For fuck sake, Reno!" she shouted, smacking him over the head, "Don't do that, in the name of Shiva, I swear, if you do that after I've had alcohol tonight, I'll have no qualms about hitting you where it's gonna hurt most..." Just then, the horn blasted out, signaling that all members of Shin-Ra's forces had to assemble for inspection.


	3. Chapter 3 Testing Early

All in all, the Weapon Inspection was going quite well, despite the fact that it was 8am, and they were still standingthere. So far, only one of the Recruits had passed out from lack of sleep, but that was nothing unusual for this time of the year, or so Genesis had said as the poor guy had been dragged off the field by his ankles. Maro had squinted to figure out who it was, then realised, after a quick glance at Zack, (who had an empty space beside him) that it was Kunsel. At any other point, Maro would have been in hysterics, but she couldn't, so she held it in, regardless of the fact that Genesis could see that she was trying so hard not to laugh. Genesis caught her eyes and gave her a look that said 'don't move, you're being watched...' She focused her eyes back to the front, and, sure enough, she was being watched, but not just by Director Lazard. The General himself was up at the front, and he was watching her.

_Oh, fuck... _she thought, starting to panic, _Why am I panicking!? He told me himself that admitting that your scared makes you braver than someone who hides it... So, I'm gonna take that advice and use it to my advantage, since no one else is likely to have it. _With that, Maro stood up a little straighter, and her entire bearing changed. She had suddenly gone from shy little Recruit, to a Recruit who had all the confidence that she could ever need. Genesis noticed it, the people around her noticed it, yet they knew not to look, but they could sense it. It seemed that the General had noticed it as well, for he made a short comment to Director Lazard, who then turned to look at her. She couldn't see their expressions very well, but, if she could judge from the look that Genesis had in his eyes at that moment, they were all impressed that someone could change their bearing so quickly, with so little effort.

"Role-Call Over, Role-Call Over" was blasted across the field using the tanoy system, "Could the following please remain behind: Reno Sinclair, Tseng, Zackary Fair, Marona Hakashi, Genesis Rhapsodos, and Angeal Hewley, thank you for your attention." Everyone on the field visibly relaxed and began to walk to where ever they had decided, or had been ordered to go. Maro, and the rest of those people whose names had been called, proceeded to the front to speak to the SOLDIER Director.

"Don't look so worried, little one," said Genesis, eyes on the white book he always has with him, "Director Lazard isn't going to kill you, and neither is Sephiroth, so, take a deep breath, and relax a bit." Maronodded and inhaled deeply, before lettingit our slowly, the way Genesis had taught her. Apparently, it was a good exercise for anger management as well, or so Genesis had said. While she relaxed physically, inside, she was still panicking ever so slightly. Zack, she noted, looked rather pleased with himself for some reason.

"What's going on, Genesis?" she asked, her eyes showing confusion, "Tell me, or I'll... I'll... Actually, I don't know what I'll do, but that's not the point."

"I think they're giving you lot your final exam a couple of days early," said Angeal thoughtfully, who had appeared beside her, Zack on his other side, "You have progressed past the required level for the exam. Perhaps Director Lazard wants you in SOLDIER early, for the slight over-draught of Missions we've been having lately."

"You're making us sound like guinea pigs, Angeal," whined Zack, pouting slightly, "Let's just furry up so we can find out!" Zack took off, right up to Sephiroth and Lazard, clearly, he wasn't affraid of either of them, regardless of the fact that they _both_had the power to fire him on the spot. The group stopped in front of Director Lazard, and waited in silence for several agonising minutes. Zack fidgeting all the while.

"Good to see you all," said the Director, smilingin a manner that was meant to be reassuring, but only serving to make poor Maro panic even more, "We, that is the General and myself, have decided to give you your exams early. Angeal, you will be testing Reno, Genesis, you will be testing Zack, and Tseng, you will be testing Maro."

"I'm being tested by a Turk?" queried Maro, panic lost with her own intrigue.

"I'm being tested by a freakin' SOLDIER!?" muttered Reno, he disliked the idea, or, so it would seem.

"Maro will take part in the stamina section first, Zack will take the fighting skills first," said Sephiroth, acting like the two had never spoken, "Reno will be doing the written paper." Reno hissed his displeasure, in the same way a snake would.

"You have 1 1/2 hours for each part of your test," finnished Lazard, the three Recruits nodded, "With an hours break in between, now, go and show us exactly why we should let you joing SOLDIER, or, in Reno's case, the Turks." Zack slummped off, following Genesis towards the maind building, and the Training Room. Maro handed her phone, and her room keys to Reno, since she had no pockets. He glared at the back of Angeal's head as they walked towards the main building, and an empty classroom.

"We have the use of this area," said the black haired Turk who was to test her, Tseng was clearly from Wutai, judging from his features and his accent, he took a sheet out of his pocket, "Alright, it says you have to run 15 laps around the field, at a slow pace, 10 at a medium pace, and 8 as fast as you possibly can... Leviathan, do they really expect you to be able to do this?"

"Yeah, SOLDIER have to have stamina, and they have to be fast," replied Maro, a slightly smug expression on her face, for she had done this just the other day, after being forced to run on a treadmill for 20 minutes, "This is basic training, if you can't do this, then they send you packing, regardless of whether you can fight or not." She started to stretch out her muscles, the last thing she wanted during this test was cramp, since that would knock her out of her rhythm, not to mention make her sore and irritable.

"You can start when you're ready," said Tseng, clearly intrested to see whether or not she could do the appointed task. Maro nodded and finnished stretching, then walked over to the edge of the field. She looked at Tseng, who nodded once and hit a button on his watch...

_A TIMER!? _she realised, and forced herself into a slow run, _He failed to mention that he would be timing this... How unnecessarily evil... _

((40 Minutes Later))

She had just 2 more laps at her fastest to go. However, to say that she wasn't feeling her legs burning like fire would be a real lie, plus the fact that it was starting to rain didn't help, it just made her muscles ache even more. She passed Tseng in a blur of black and white.

_One... more... lap... _she thought, breathing heavily, the water was begining to weigh her down, and her legs were starting to strain, _Come on... Just a little... further! _She pushed again, forcing herself to go as fast as her screaming muscles would let her, rounding a corner, she could see someone standing with Tseng, but she didn't care, all she wanted to do was finish and walk it off. She ran past Tseng and whoever was talking to him for a good forty feet before she slid to a stop. Slowly, she began to walk back towards Tseng, eyes closed, face upturned towards the sky, enjoying the feel of the rain on her face. Upon reaching Tseng, she sat on the muddy ground, uncaring, and extremely pleased with herself.

"I can't read the time on this," sighed Tseng, tapping the weary Recruit on the leg with his foot, "Get up, we'll go inside and get you dried off, and find you something else to wear, you'll get ill if you stay in wet clothes." Maro nodded and stood up again, only to fall back down into the mud. The other person chuckled and picked her up, setting her one her feet, and holding her up by the elbow.

"You done well," said the person, sounding far to much like the General for her liking, "I think she passed this part of her test, now, a break and she can sort herself out, get washed and dried, and whatever else..."

"That could be a problem..." muttered Maro, trying to support her own body weight, and trying not to lean on the General's hand for support, "Reno has my room key, and my phone, I always give them to him when I'm running, I don't have any pockets in these..."

"Well, now what do we do?" asked Tseng, looking at the General, "She's a SOLDIER Recruit, not a Turk, I'm not authorised to make any decisions where she's involved." The General's long, silver hair hid his face from viewas he bent down to Maro's level. By this point, Maro's teeth were begining to chatter, and she was regaining the use of her legs at a rapid rate.

"You can use my shower, if you want," he said, her head turned to look at him, watching his expression for any trace of ill intention, "Don't worry so much, I'll find you some clothes to wear, you're not that short... Come on, 'little one' let's go, you'll freeze if you stay out here much longer." Maro just stood there, shocked and astounded that the General was being so nice.

_Is it because I'm a girl? _thought Maro, the General began to push her towards the main building, gently, yet firmly, _No, I doubt the General is like that, I'm just being paranoid, cause I'm too used to being paranoid... Stupid childhood memories... Why-oh-why must they bother me every minute of every fucking day...? That's exaggerating just a little... Oh, Shiva, I need to get my head together... _Mentaly, she may have been in turmoil, but on the outside, she looked plesantly calm. She was aware of Sephiroth and Tseng talking, but she didn't care, all she could do was keep walking and think about how best to avoid the wierd looks she was going to get the moment she entered the main building.

"...-ro... Maro!" shouted Sephiroth, causing the unsuspecting girl to fall and land on her ass again, "I said, your walking the wrong way, I'm a SOLDIER 1st Class, so I'm over there." He pointed to the right. "I'm not stuck in the building like you and Zack, come on." She followed, realising that she was walking under her own power.

((1 Hour Later))

Washed, dried, and wearing a spare set of clothes lent to her by Sephiroth, she was eating in the main building's cafeteria, she was the only one in there, since everyone was either in their rooms, or in the library. Her sword took up the rest of the bench beside her. The clothes were just a bit too big, and she had to borrow a belt as well, but other than that, nothing was out of the ordinary, that is, until a certain blonde, spiky haired Infantryman came haring into the cafateria, a group of well known bullies hot on his heels. Withing seconds, the group had him cornered, in the corner closest to Maro, as luck would have it. She stood up, and lifted her sword off of the bench beside her. Quietly, she walked up behind the tallest person surrounding the unlucky blonde, and grabbed his hair, pulling his head back, before ramming her elbow into his nose. The rest of the group froze, eyes on the SOLDIER Recruit in front of them. They knew exactly who she was, and they knew to stay away from her. Several of them gulped and backed away, before turning and running out of the room. The rest, looked ready to stand and fight.

"4 against little old me?" she asked, pouting, then grinning in an evil manner, "Too easy, bring it on then, you sons of bitches from the bitches of whores from a bygone era." They stood there, like the fools they were, as Maro, dunted two of them in the sides of the head, knocking them to the ground. The other two made a run for it, closely followed by the two on the floor. Maro nodded once and stuck the sword on her back, before turning to the blond boy.

"Th-thank you," he said, his voice reminding her of warm summers spent by lakes, "I don't know what they wanted, I just ran for it..."

"Don't worry about it," said Maro, walking back to her seat, motioning for him to join her, "They pick on most people, you just need to learn that they may act tough, but when you can stand a couple of beatings from them, they give up. What they're scared of, is someone standing up to them straight away, like I did. My name's Maro, what's yours?"

"Cloud," he replied, smiling slightly, "Where are you from?"

"Me? I'm from Costa Del Sol," she replied, giving him the thumbs up, "I was brought up in an orphanage, and I had to fight for my share of the food, there wasn't much, what about you?"

"Nibelheim... you look sort of familiar..." he said, still smiling, "Ah, the only female to join SOLDIER, right?" Maro nodded. The door to the canteen swung open, and in walked Sephiroth. Cloud froze, his face showing nothing, but his fisted hands had white knuckles.

"Tseng can't fight a SOLDIER," said Sephiroth, watching Maro's reaction, she didn't move, "So, I will be doing your fighting test instead."

"You have to be fucking kidding..." she muttered, severely unhappy, "When and where?"

"Now, in the Training Room," he replied, his eyes now fixed on poor Cloud, "Feel free to bring your friend, perhaps he would like to see SOLDIER in action?" Cloud seemed unable to move, his eyes were begining to show signs of fear. Tiny pupils, and an unnecessary amount of white was easily noticed. He shook his head just ever so slightly, just enough for them to notice it. Maro stood up, pulling Cloud up with her.

"He's not going to kill you, Cloud," she said, Cloud looked at her, "Hey, even I was scared the first time I met him, I still am, but you do kinda get used to him, and his extended periods of silence." Sephiroth raised an eyebrow, before turning on his heels and walking out of the cafeteria. "Well, I guess I have to go now... I'll see you soon, yeah?" Cloud nodded, a smile back on his face. "See ya, Cloud!"

"Bye." He said. She turned and ran to the door. She looked back over her shoulder and smiled, before opening the door and leaving the room, the door clanging shut behind her.

((Training Room))

**_Data Input...  
_Chose Location - Junon Sister Ray Cannon  
Time of Day - Evening  
Length of Session - 1 1/2 hours  
_Inputting programme data... Please stand by... Data input complete. Begining session in 3... 2...1... Begin._**

The walls of the Training Room flashed and, within seconds, Maro and Sephiroth were standing on top of the Sister Ray Cannon at Jonon Harbour. The sun was setting slowly out over the blue waters below them, casting long shadows back towards the cannon's core.

"I think this place would be more suited to a fight of epic proportions, Sir," said Maro, gauging the width of the cannon barrel, "May I ask why you chose this particular location?" Sephiroth walked forward, standing a few feet ahead of her.

"You remind me of Genesis, in more ways that one," he replied, avoiding the question completely, "The only thing that I haven't heard you do yet, is quote 'LOVELESS' from memory... Tell me, can you do that?"

"To a certain extent..." she admitted, a slightly depressed look on her face, "He quotes it so often, that it's become permanently lodged in my brain... Doesn't really help when your trying to revise Field Measurement and Mechanics..." Sephiroth chuckled lightly, he knew exactly what she meant.

"Can you quote Act I?" he asked, looking at her over his shoulder, just to see what she would do.

"Um... 'Infinite in mystery is the gift of the Goddess'," she started, frowning slightly with concentration, "' We seek it thus and take to the sky.'"

"Unbelievable..." muttered Sephiroth, chuckling again, "He's turning you into a female version of himself... I don't think anyone could stand that. No offense to Genesis, of course, but learning something like that by heart seems pointless to me... Not that it matters, anyway... Let us begin your test, don't hold back, I don't like it when people hold back."


	4. Chapter 4 Fighting the General

Hello all, sorry for the short chapter, and any advice on writing fight scened would be greatly appreciated, since I will freely admit that I suck at them. Anyway, enjoy!

Maro gulped, then took her sword from her back, twirling in in a quick circle by her side. She hadn't been expecting this to happen at all.

_What was I expecting...? _she thought, widening her stance, and taking a deep breath, _I should have realised that they weren't going to let me fight a Turk, it doesn't work like that... But why Sephiroth, of all the SOLDIER 1st Classes, why him!?_

"Are you just going to stand there?" he asked, sounding disappointed, almost like he had expected her to launch into the fight, "Are you scared?" Maro glared. She was scared, but like Sephiroth had said, to admit that your scared is true bravery.

"Yes, I'm scared..." she replied, eyes flashing in the half light from the setting sun, "Who wouldn't be, facing the 'Hero General' himself. Not that it matters, to admit that your scared, is true bravery, and to be able to ask for help, makes you stronger still." Sephiroth nodded his approval. "I also know now, that your not as scary as you seem." He raised an eyebrow. Maro just grinned and leapt forward, sword arm ready to slash at his right shoulder. Instead of meeting flesh, her sword collided with Masamune, sparks flew as the two blades grated against one another. Sephiroth pushed, stepping forward, forcing her to step back. She glared at him and forced all her weight and strength into making him stop moving, but she failed epicaly, being forced into a very unhelpful area... right at the start of the cannon's building.

"Is that the best you can do?" he asked, eyes glinting, "I think Genesis may have overestimated you." Maro growled, then jumped over Sephiroths head, landing behind him and slashing at his back. Once again, her blade met steel, but it was not Masamune, this time, she hit the cannon. The bastard had jumped! She whirled round just in time to catch the blade with her own before it hit her in the ribs. She jumped back, trying to think of some way to get past his guard, while Sephiroth just stood there, waiting for the girl's next move, looking smug

_Think, Maro, think... _she was starting to formulate little plans in her head, but none of them would work, _I could try an all out attack, but that's almost like committing suicide... I doubt that he's going to move unless I do... Shiva, I want to get that smug look off of his face... But how... I'm not fast enough to block him if he goes for the kill, and I'm not strong enough to force him backwards to the end of the fucking cannon... ARGH!! This is getting me nowhere... Yet I can't do anything until I have a plan... Wait a minute... I've got it! By staying out of the reach of Masamune, I leave myself vulnerable to the Draw Slash that Genesis mentioned... If I can get past the end of Masamune, and under the rest of the blade, then I should be able to hit him, the only question is... will I be fast enough to avoid the Draw Slash _and _get under the rest of that thing?_

Maro shifted her weight, left foot forward, right foot back. She flipped her sword so that the point face the ground behind her, the hilt facing Sephiroth. Sephiroth had Masamune at his side.

_Here it comes... _Sephiroth slashed at her, she jumped forward, barely avoiding the attack. She was under the blade of Masamune, less that three feet form his body. She brought her sword forward, aiming for his lower torso. For the third time, steel met steel as Sephiroth had dropped to the balls of hif feet to bring the blade down enough to stop her attack. Sephiroth's weight and strength were slowly pushing her down onto her knees. _Shit... I didn't see this comming... I'm assuming that this is what Genesis meant when he was talking about my lack of ability to test my opponents abilities... _Maro pushed her sword against Masamune, making an attempt to push Sephiroth up, and possibly back a few steps. Slowly, she began to make slight progress. Masamune was moving back, slowly, but it was a start.

"Maybe you do have some fight in you," said Sephiroth, placing a little more weight onto his blade, forcing Maro back down again, "But, do you really expect to win with a tactic like that?"

"I do not expect to win, Sir," she replied, pushing harder against her own sword, "However, I will fight to my last breath to prove that I am capable of being in SOLDIER, and that I am not just a girl with overly high hopes!" She snarled and forced herself onto the balls of her feet, forcing Sephiroth to stand up. Slowly, she began to stand, the pressure she was placing on her blade was begining to force Sephiroth back, one small step at a time. She was on her feet now, and continuing to force the General back.

"How are you doing that?" he asked, watching as Maro's pupils began to shrink at an alarming rate.

"I honestly don't know Sir," she said, pupils almost like pin pricks, "If I knew, I would have done it much sooner..." They had reached the halfway point of the cannon barrel. The colour drained from her face, and her knees were becoming weak.

_What the hell!? _her mind screamed, her legs protested to every little movement, _What's happening to me!? _Her arms were beginning to shake, and her legs were becoming weaker with ever passing second. What neither of them had realised, was that the pressure of of the two opposing blades had began to crack her blade. Maro continued to force her weight behind her blade, as Sephiroth stopped moving backwards. The crack in her blade lengthened, Masamune pushed forward. Her blade gave way, Sephiroth's blade sank into her shoulder. The upper half of her blade cut the top of his arm. She screamed. Sephitorh shouted something. The world flickered. She fell back, yanking her shoulder free of Masamune. She hit the ground, blood pooling around her shoulder. Sephiroth hovered over her, shouting something... She couldn't hear... The world dimmed... The last thing she seen was Sephiroth's face, he had an expression at was almost verging on blind panic... She blacked out, and knew no more.


	5. Chapter 5 Wake Her Up, Sephiroth

Genesis sat by a bed in a small hospital room, in the bed, was Maro. She was unconscious, and her upper body was wrapped in white bandages, hiding the hellish mark that had been left by Masamune.

Beep... beep... beep... beep... beep... beep... beep...

The door to the small hospital room opened. Zack stepped in and closed it behind him, before walking over to the bed.

"How is she, Genesis?" asked a very subdued Zack, looking at the girl lying in the hospital bed, "Any change at all?"

"Not even a twitch..." Genesis replied, standing up and stretching his muscles, "Three days and no change... The doctor's said that it wasn't as serious as it should have, _**or**_ could have been... Can you keep an eye on her, I need coffee, and food, before I end up passing out as well..." Zack nodded. Genesis stepped out of the door, just as Angeal and Sephiroth went to come in. The three nodded in greeting, then Genesis proceeded to the canteen. Angeal waited outside, while Sephiroth went in. People stopped walking to watch through the door.

"Anything?" he asked Zack, who just shook his head. It had been like this for three days now. They would take turns watching her for any sign of life, anything at all that indicated change, but nothing had happened. Every one of them felt so useless, but Sephiroth, he felt the worst. As far as he was concerned, this was all his fault. If he hadn't been so busy assessing what it was that had given her the physical strength to push him back, he would have noticed the crack in her sword, and he would have stopped the test. No one had blamed him, not to his face at least. He had walked past the cafeteria on his way here, and he had heard them talking about it. Saying that he should have been quick enough to stop his sword from hitting her. He should have been able to push her out of the way, forgetting that Masamune was 11 feet of razor sharp steel. Angeal hadn't blamed him, Genesis had merely asked what happened, but Genesis hadn't blamed him either.

"She wouldn't blame you..." muttered Zack, sitting on the floor in the corner of the room, "She's not the kind of person that blames people for things like this... but why won't she wake up...?"

"Perhaps she needs a reason to wake up?" queried Angeal, stepping into the room and closing the door, shutting of the looks from the people outside, "I don't mean because we want her to... I mean a reason for her to wake up, something that she has her heart set on... something that means the world to her... that's more important to her than anything else... something that she would even die for..."

"She said something during our fight..." said Sephiroth, eyes averted as Zack and Angeal looked at him, "She said that she would fight to her last breath to prove that she was capable of joining SOLDIER... and that... she's not just a girl with overly high hopes..." Zack looked at Maro, who still hadn't moved. Angeal shook his head.

"Would you have passed her from what you saw?" asked Angeal, eyes flicking to the still stationary girl, "Did her performance merit a pass?" Sephiroth nodded. "Say it out loud, let her hear it, I think this may be the answer. Wake her up, Sephiroth, bring her back to us."

"She passed..." said Sephiroth, watching the girl for any signs of life, other than the slow beeping of the heart monitor, "If she gets twenty or more in that written paper, then she's in SOLDIER." Zack stood up, watching his friend, willing her to move, even slightly. Angeal was silent, but his gaze was intent. Sephiroth dared not blink, just in case he missed some minute movement. Seconds passed into minutes. One minute passed into five. They were beginning to give up. Zacl looked at the floor, Angeal looked towards the door, while Sephiroth looked anywhere other than at the unconcious girl.

"How... m-many... marks...?" the stationary girl croaked, her eyes cracking open just ever so slightly. Zack punched the air, Angeal smiled, and Sephiroth... well, lets just say that he wanted to laugh with relief, but decided against it, instead, he sighed his relief.

"I think she's alive..." commented Angeal, still smiling, "Can you sit up?" Maro tried to, but failed as the wound on her shoulder forced back down again. She hissed her displeasure. "I'll take that as a no then... something tells me that you're going to be in here for a while."

"No..." she croaked, trying to sit up again, Zack went to help her, but Angeal grabbed him by his collar, "I will not... be bedridden... I will... get up!" She continued to force herself up, the wound in her shoulder screaming like fire. She continued until she was sitting upright, her teeth gritted against the pain tearing her appart. The door opened, Genesis stepped in, and he froze in the doorway. He hadn't been expecting her to be awake, never mind sitting up! He shut the door, an extremely relieved look on his face.

"Is she ok?" was the first thing out of his mouth. They all looked at her.

"I'm fine..." she hissed through her teeth, she looked at Sephiroth, "I don't blame you... if I had been paying more attention to my sword, then I would have noticed the strain that it was under..." Angeal looked like he was going to laugh. He knew that Sephiroth had been blaming himself, and now that Maro was blaming herself, it was just too funny. He started laughing, and, as Genesis realised that both of them were blaming themselves, he too, burst into hysterics. Sephiroth looked at them like the were idiots, while Maro glared at them. "What the fuck...?" Genesis was the first one to sober up enough to talk, though that had taken a good five minutes.

"Your both... blaming yourselves...!" he gasped, then burst into hysterics again. Maro looked at Sephiroth, Sephiroth looked at Maro. Sephiroth shrugged, smiling just ever so slightly. Maro just grimaced, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Did you really blame yourself, Sir?" she asked the General, who merely nodded, looking once more at Angeal and Genesis who were trying to hold one another up, while continuing to laugh hysterically. "Why?"

"I should have stopped my blade," he said, earning a snort from the injured Recruit. Genesis and Angeal became silent, intent on the reply she was likely to give, and it came alright.

"Big whoop," she replied, stretching her neck, "You made one mistake, nobody's completely perfect, no matter what they think, or what other people tell them. Besides, I'm alive, I think that could just be counted as a good thing, now, when can I sit that written paper?" Zack's jaw dropped, Angeal didn't look shocked, almost like he had been expecting that sort of comment. Genesis looked ready to laugh again, and Sephiroth had a look of utter disbelief on his face. "...What?"

"Your lying in a hospital bed..." muttered Zack, a confused look on his face, "And all you care about... is doing the written paper!?"

"Yup," she replied, Zack sat on the floor, head in his hands, "Why do you have such a hard time believing that all I'm worried about is the written paper? After all, I said it before, and I'll say it again. I can, and will, become SOLDIER, and if I have my way, in SOLDIER, I'll become SOLDIER 1st Class before I'm dead and gone."

"Someone has a dream..." murmered Sephiroth, no one noticed his comment, "Perhaps she'll manage it, it might be interesting to see... Personally, I'm begining to hope she can do it..."


	6. Chapter 6 Test and Letter

((Five Days Later ~ Empty Classroom ~ Shin-Ra Building ~ 23rd Floor ~ 11am))

The classroom's automatic door hissed open, Genesis stepped in, followed by a very grumpy Zack. Turns out that Zack hadn't finished his written paper. He had been sitting it when Angeal got the call about Maro. Needless to say, that the test had been forgotten. Zack was followed by Maro, white bandages visible above the neck of her t-shirt. Behind her, was Angeal, and, behind Angeal, Sephiroth. There were two small desks in the middle of the room, roughly a ten foot gap between the two. An eight page question paper on each.

"Back to solitary confinement for an hour..." muttered Zack, who clearly wanted to rip something apart, or just break a pencil, "Oh joy, can it get any better than this?"

"It would be better, if you shut up..." Maro hissed, walking to the desk furthest from the door, "Maybe then I'll actually remember something about Field Measurement... I bet this paper is full of that shit... stupid soh cah toa, and as for those stupid equations... gad, I'm going to fail this..." Angeal walked over to her desk and handed her a black pen.

"Stop being so pessimistic," he said, then turned and strode over to Zack's desk, handing him a pen as well, "Zack, you have one hour, Maro, you have one and a half hours... Begin!" Genesis stood at the door, while Sephiroth stood at the back of the room. Angeal stood at the front, watching the two as they began to flick through the papers.

Maro's eyes flicked from word to word, reading every question through.

_Looks like it's my lucky day, _she thought, putting pen to paper to answer the first question, _Looks like there aren't many Field Measurement questions here, it's all to do with speed, distance and time... That's one thing I can do well enough... Alright... A train is going from Midgar to Nibelheim, a distance of three hundred and thirty eight miles. The train is traveling at nintey mph... when does it arive at Nibelhiem, use you logic to answer. Wait a minute... ther _**IS**_ no train station in Nibelheim, than means that the train _**NEVER**_ arived at all! _Maro answered the question quickly, making a mental note to tell whoever wrote this paper, that Nibelheim didn't have a train station... as far as she was aware that is. _Question two... You are in charge of a squad of eight. Three are killed in a fight. You are ordered to leave the bodied behind, but take any items of value. What would these items include and why... that's simple, take any high level materia and have other members of the squad equip it, take all remaining materia to stop it falling into the hands of the enemy, remove all weapons, for the same reasons, and finally, take any and all healing items, they're self-eplanitory._

She proceeded to answer the majority of the questions in the same way she had done with the first two. Talking to herself inside her head made more sense, since then she could argue out the finer points of each question. In just over fifty minutes, she had just one more question. This sucker was worth fifteen marks, and she had no clue where to start...

Question 24. You have been sent to check on a mako excavation mine. The mine has been over run with enemy troops and monsters of extremely high levels. The other members of your twelve man squad are all dead. You have been ordered to continue the mission, but you are injured, you can't walk properly, nor can you fight, as your sword arm is injured. You have one text message to send out for help, two days worth of provisions left, and four bottles of water. Write a detailed plan of who you would send your single text message to, how you would survive, and, if help didn't come, what you would do to continue living.

She re-read the question twice, trying to figure out where to start. She rested her head in her hands, thinking and arguing with herself.

"Zack, your time is up," said Angeal, Zack stood up, his face pale, "Maro, you have thirty five minutes remaining..." Zack was ushered out of the room by Angeal, and Genesis picked up his paper, before leaving the room to hand it over to one of the Markers. Hence the reason that Sephiroth had came in as well.

_I guess I should start with who I would send the text too... _she though, wanting to scream with frustration, _Certainly not Zack, I'd never hear the end of it, maybe Genesis, but then I'd get a lecture about LOVELESS and the lessons it teaches us... Angeal? NO! I don't want a lecture about honour... They do my head in... Kunsel? Nah, he'd end up driving me insane, either that or he'd die before we got anywhere... Reno? He does have access to a chopper... but he'd drive me insane on the way back... Ah, I really have no idea... maybe the General...? Nah, I bet everyone picked him... and I don't think that this question has a set answer... all I need to do is write enough to get ten out of fifteen marks, and I should have a pass... OK, say I put the General down, why him? Simple, he's a much higher level than I am, he would be able to get in with no problem, and out with no problems, other than me to hold him back._

She wrote the first part down on paper quickly, thoughts revolving around this single text, it's advantages, and it's disadvantages, and any little prolems that it could hold.

_Two days worth of rations and four bottles of water... _she thought, frowning just ever so slightly, _If I eat a quarter of a ration each day, I can survive for eight days... That leaves me with half a bottle of water for each day... I could survive longer still if I only drink a quarter of a bottle each day... I could survive on water alone for about a week... and if I don't drink any while I still have food... that would give me a possible... two weeks and maybe three days to wait for help. To bad that I have the advantage of not eating my fair share of food, I barely eat, so this wouldn't be a problem. Chances are that in this time span, my arm may heal, and i may be able to start walking again. If that's at all possible, then I can hunt for food, and search for water... But if I don't heal, then I'm just going to have to use my left arm to fight, it's the only thing that could possibly work... not quite... If I can find something to help me walk, then I could possibly get out... or contiue the mission... depending on whether or not I have the strength to do so..._

She wrote this down of the paper as well, her head turning towards the clock on the wall.

"You have fifteen minutes..." said Sephiroth, watching as the girl jumped in her seat, "Take your time, and think about it..."

_I don't have time... _she thought glumly, shaking her head and looking back at her answer sheet, _If help didn't come, then... I guess I'd have to force myself to find some way of living long enough for my arm to heal, and my leg to get back to normal... there's no way I would be able to get out without fighting something, and, there's the possibility that said beastie could be a summon, if the enemy has got their hands on a summon... still, I'm SOLDIER, I have to find a way to survive, that's my job... actually, this might just get me those marks... i'll put this down too! _She wrote as fast as her injury would allow her to. She didn't dare to look at the clock, she didn't want to know how long she had left. She could hear the General shifting his weight at the back of the room, and she cloud hear Angeal telling Zack to shut up outside the door. The last word went onto the page, she dropped the pen and sighed in relief.

"Are you done?" asked Sephiroth, stepping forward to collect the paper as she nodded, "I lied, by the way... You still have another ten minutes." Maro groaned. "You can go, if you've finnished."

"I'm finnished..." she mumbled, standing up as Sephiroth picked up her test, "Now, do I get to go back to bed, or do I have training again... Oh Shiva... I hope it's not training... I'm dead on my feet as it is..." The door hissed open, and Genesis stepped in, grabbed her arm, and pulled her out of the room, before handing her a white envelope. It was surprisingly heave, and it sounded like there was a metal chain in it. "What the name of Holy...?" Whatever it was, had her name on it, so, she opened it, right there. Out of the envelope, came a single piece of white paper, and a short silver chain with a jade dragon on it. She looked at it carefully, noting the fine detail that had gone into the carving, before putting the envelope between her teeth and reading the letter.

_Dear Maro_

_Hear they let you in after all. Sure, you may not be in SOLDIER yet, but we all know you can do it. Rei says 'Hi' and everyone else says to say... um... hebi face I think it was... I guess the kids miss you more that you thought they would. Mihale says you have to come back and visit at least eight times a year. Kimmi says be careful, and Triana says that you have to write more often. Hope you like the keychain. That's from me, and the other thing that's in there, at least, it better be in there, it's from all of us.  
Other than the usual havoc from the 'You-Know-Who's' nothing has changed, except that Rei has decided to become an artist, but then again, we did always say he would... I'm really bad for small talk... I can't help it, I don't know what else to write. Anyway, Night Watch is calling, as usual. Make sure to write back this time, little Wolf of the Gales. We miss you!_

_From, Leon Lionheart  
Costa Del Sol Children's Home_

Maro put the letter in the waistband of her trousers, before peering inside the envelope again. Inside, was a small silver ring, Just a band, plain, yet at the same time pretty. She took it out and slipped it onto her pinky, it fit perfectly, which surprised her.

"Who's it from?" asked Zack, being the nosey git that he was.

"From my 'Family,' if you can call them that," she replied, putting the letter back into the envelope, and holding the keychain in her hand, "I think I'm going to put the keychain on my sword... Speaking of my sword, how much is it going to tan me to fix the bastard!?"

"Two thousand Gil would get you a new sword," said Sephiroth, handing the paper over to Genesis, who walked away with it, "It would cost more than that to fix it, I don't know why it works like that though."

"WHAT!?" she yelled, her face fell slightly, "I'm never gonna get a new sword if I can't WORK for the fucking money... Now what do I do? Just give up before I even get into SOLDIER...?"

"NO WAY!" shouted Zack, smacking her over the head for even thinking about such a thing, "We'll get it somehow, I know we will!"


	7. Chapter 7 Pasts and Plots

Zack's proclamation had everyone staring at him. That had to be one of the most serious thing he'd said since he joined SOLDIER. Then his stomach growled. Maro looked at the floor, trying desperately not to laugh. She failed, and sank to her knees in fits of laughter. She couldn't control it, it had been such a serious moment too, and then Zack's stomach just had to go and ruin it. Clearly, everyone else had seen the funny side of it, because they too, were beginning to laugh. Everyone except the embarrassed Zack and the stone faced General, but then again, who would expect the General to laugh properly.

Maro gasped for breath, but continued to laugh. It hurt her shoulder, and she had a headache, but she really didn't care. After a few minutes, she forced herself to stop laughing, slowly, but she did stop, unlike Angeal, who was still laughing behind his hands, and Genesis, who had walked several meters down the corridor to try and calm down a little bit.

"You two need to grow up..." said Sephiroth, Angeal and Genesis looked at him, his face was serious, but that just made them laugh all the harder, "In the name of Shiva... I swear if you two don't stop laughing, I'll... Demote you both!" The two looked at one another, then doubled over again, sinking to their knees, holding their sides. They reminded Maro of the carefree days she had spent in the orphanage back home in Costa Del Sol, back when joining SOLDIER had seemed like such a distant dream.

"I don't think it's going to work, Sir," Maro stated, Sephiroth just shook his head, "Permission to leave, Sir?" Sephiroth nodded. She grabbed Zack's arm and proceeded to drag him down the corridor, away from the stone faced General, and their idiotic mentors. She continued to drag him all the way back to their rooms. She unlocked her door and kicked it open, smacking it off the inside wall of her room, before letting go of Zack, who shut the door as he walked in. She flopped onto her bed, while Zack sat on the floor, back leaning against the bed. They sat in silence for several minutes, Maro still holding her letter from home.

"I just realised something..." he said, turning his head to look at her, "I never thought to ask, but... What possesed you to join SOLDIER?"

"Oh... well... I-I guess it was Leon..." she mumbled, Zack continued to watch her, "Costa Del Sol has a few gangs... I... was chosen to protect the Orphanage from any... impending attacks that they might try. There were two others helping me do this... Leon, and Mihale. We did our job well, and we kept the rest of the kids well protected. Then it came to the point where the biggest gang in the town came after me for kicking the shit out of one of their members. Leon stood beside me 'till the very last one was down on the ground. Many of them had faced a good kick to the side of the head with steel toe caps, and those that hadn't, had been hit with brass knuckles. Needless to say that there was blood covering the both of us. I had a long cut down my right leg, going from hip to knee, but it didn't hurt. Leon was in worse shape. One of his opponents had a flick knife that we hadn't noticed, and he had put it into Leon's gut before Leon could do anything other than blink. I carried Leon home that night, though his protests woke up quite a few people, who just laughed at the irony of what they were seeing."

"They were expecting it to be the other way around then?" asked Zack, Maro nodded adn smiled just ever so slightly.

"When we got back, we reported straight to the 'mistress' of the orphanage," she said, shuddering slightly, "She's kinda like ol' sour puss, just worse. We gave our report, and the went off to the tiny infirmary that we had. They bandaged us up, made sure we were fine, then sent us to bed. We went to our room, yes, I shared a room with Leon, and if I went back, I probably still would. Anyway, we started talking and, eventually, the subject of SOLDIER came up. He said that I may just have a chance of getting into SOLDIER, cause 'I had skills' or so he thought. After a few weeks, the idea of joining SOLDIER sorta became appealing, so, I signed up. Not before I made a promise to Leon though. I promised that I would always come back when they needed me most, and that's a promise that I intend to keep."

Zack sat in silence, mulling over this slightly odd information, and her promise.

((Sephiroth's P.O.V ~ Yes, there is a reason for this, just bare with me...))

I was starting to get irritated, I honestly wanted to choke both Angeal and Genesis. The two Recruits had left nearly five minutes ago, and the were _still_ laughing. The were starting to sober up, just a bit, just enough for Genesis to ask me a question.

"Did her eyes change colour at all when you were fighting?" he asked, Angeal froze, suddenly, this had become a serious matter, "I need to know, because if they did then..."

"Her eyes did not change at all," I replied, my voice firm, but I was wary, what was Genesis hiding from me, I didn't like the idea of not knowing something that Genesis was planning, it usually wasn't a good thing, "What would it mean if her eyes _had_ changed?"

"If her eyes had changed, then we would have had to lock her up for a few days," Genesis said, looking rather unhappy, "I don't know what does it, but I don't think that Hojo _only _injected her with that freaky red mako. She was out for nearly three weeks, no one else was out of it that long..."

"You think that Hojo ran experiments on her...?" asked Angeal, a scowl on his face. I could tell well enough that Angeal was against this kind of thing. Mako was one thing, but anything else he wouldn't stand for at all.

"Yes, I do," replied Genesis, his eyes showed concern, and possibly even anguish at the though of that little, - or not so little now, since she had grown nearly a full eight inches in six months - Recruit under his are being used for Hojo's experiments. Shiva only knows what he could have done to her while she was down there in that tank after the injections.

"Well then, we're just going to have to wait and see," I stated, earning glares from the both of them, "We don't really have a choice. We can't just storm up to him and demand that he tells us what he did. We are not allowed to harass members of the other departments for irrelevant information, you know that as well as I do..." Genesis hissed his displeasure. I knew that he was starting to worry, and I have to admit that I was too. If Hojo had done some form of experiment on her, then we had to be careful. "I'll keep and eye on her, we all will. She will be fine Genesis, I'll make sure of it."

"I'll hold you to that." was the curt reply I received, before he move onto the next subject, "Now, I have an idea that with blow you away." I groaned. Genesis's ideas never ended good for me. "Maro's birthday is in three days."

"Please don't tell me your planning a party for her..." said Angeal, he didn't like parties.

"I am indeed, and you will**_ both_** be coming," he replied, I couldn't help but chuckle slightly. The poor girl would end up running away in horror, "But, that's not the main idea. There's no way she could afford a new sword, right? So, I thought that we could get her one instead. Not one like mine, if you watch her fight, she seems just ever so slightly..."

"Out of balance," I finished, Genesis nodded, "But then, what kind of sword would we get her? Her build suggests speed, possibly grace, but her shoulders and any visible muscles scream power. So, therefore, it would have to be something like a Katana, but not as thin... either that or it just needs to be a much stronger metal... Possibly the same metal as Masamune, or even Buster... but I don't think that they use this kind of metal any more... after all, it is mako enhanced metal."

((Back with Maro and Zack))

"Anyway, how the hell do I get a new sword..." Maro was talking out loud, but, Zack though she was talking to him.

"We could get part time jobs!" he shouted, overenthusiastic as always.

"How are we going to fit in part-time jobs you fucking twat!?" she yelled back, smacking him over the head with her elbow as she sat up, "We won't have any time at all for that sort of thing..." Maro growled in irritation. Zack's phone went off. He grimaced and took it out of his pocket. he flicked it open.

"Hello?" he paused, "Uh, yeah... Sure thing, I'll hold her back for a bit... yeah... Ok, I won't say a thing... Yes, she's here..." Zack threw the phone at her. She just had time to catch it before it hit her square in the face, she glared at Zack before holding it to her ear.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Dont' get a weapon yet," came the ever stern voice of Angeal, go figure it would be Angeal, "I'm going to find out exactly how much it would cost to get it fixed. Also, Genesis said to tell you that he's plotting your inevitable doom, whatever that means." He hung up. Maro shut the phone at threw it back to Zack, who caught it and put it back into his pocket.

"... The fuck...?" was all she could say before she flopped back down onto her bed, hands behind her head.


	8. Chapter 8 Letter in Silver

_**Hi there! I just want to say thank you so much for the reviews. They really do mean a lot to me.**_

_**Big thanks to Ethin, for the review of chapter 7.**_

**_And a very special thank you to darkange8694, your review helps me out when I begin to think that I can't continue the story, so, thank you very much!_**

_**Anyway, my little drabble is over now, so, on with this chapter...**_

* * *

The next two days passed in a slow haze of boredom for Maro and Zack. They had no classes, since the Exams were over, but, they didn't have any missions either, since the results hadn't been announced yet. So, Zack sat either in the cafeteria or out at one of the small parks playing cards with Reno. Maro, on the other hand, decided to spend her time in the library. Zack had been banned from the library for being to loud, and Reno just didn't like the place, so, she had chosen to sit in there to get some peace and quiet. It also meant that she didn't have to play cards all day for something to do. She had plonked herself down on a small beanbag chair in a small corner of the library for the day, near a plug socket, as she had taken her laptop with her. It was a small, standard issue silver laptop that they had all received upon passing the Recruit entrance exams, but, it had it's uses. It had the Internet, it had MSN, and it had Word, that was all she wanted.

She was content to just sit there and write some more of her story for the entire day, but, she had received and e-mail from a group called 'Red Leather' asking her for insider information about Genesis, and asking her if she wanted to join their club. So, Maro being Maro, she had been inclined to send a reply. She was shirty about it, too.

_Dear Red Leather_

_I hate to say it, but, if you want information on Genesis, you should ask him yourselves. I don't intent to get involved in you club, so, please fuck right off, and don't contact me again. Have a nice day._

She pressed send and chuckled quietly to herself. What she hadn't noticed, was that while she was doing this, someone had appeared at the corner of the bookshelves behind her. She brought up MSN and typed in her password. She waited for it to load in silence, unaware that the person by the book shelf was now right behind her.

"Hi, Maro," the figure said quietly, Maro jumped, but made no sound, she turned around to find herself face to face with the blonde haired Cloud, who had crouched down by this point, a black shoulder bag at his feet, "Can I sit here?" He gestured towards a beanbag against the wall. Maro nodded. He grabbed the beanbag and sat next to her.

"Good to see you again, Cloud," she said, smiling at him, "How have you been?"

"Not too bad, those guys haven't come near me again," he replied, Maro grinned at what Cloud had said, "How's your shoulder?" Maro cringed. Seriously, did everyone know about her fight with the General and how it had turned out!?

"It's fine, thank you, she muttered, she wasn't at all happy that Cloud knew about that, it made her look weak, "Who told you?"

"It's been spreading round Shin-Ra like wildfire for days now," he said, Maro hissed slightly, "I don't know who started it off, but a lot of the higher up's were in a blind panic about it, or so some people have been saying. Almost like your special in some way that even _you _don't know about." Maro raised an eyebrow. She'd have to speak to Genesis about this at some point, maybe he knew something about it. Cloud clicked his fingers, then pulled out a red envelope, which he handed to her. She recognised Genesis's elegant scrawl in silver on the envelope. She opened it, and pulled out a piece of red paper. Once again, the writing was the same elegant scrawl in silver, so, she proceeded to read it.

_Maro_

_You may be wondering what I meant when I had Angeal tell you that I was plotting your 'inevitable doom,' no? Well, you will find out soon enough. Tomorrow, in fact. You will be required to go to the cafeteria at 7pm sharp to find out what you 'inevitable doom' is. Wear a fancy dress outfit, preferably one that _isn't _a SOLDIER uniform. If you don't have anything, tell me, and I'll get someone to find something _for _you._

_Signed  
Genesis Rhapsodos_

Maro sat in silence, reading, and re-reading the note several times, before scrunching it up into a little ball and sticking it in her laptop bag.

"What the hell...!?" was the first thing out of her mouth befor she could stop herself, "What the hell does he mean 'Wera a fency dress outfir, preferably one that isn't a SOLDIER uniform'!? Seriously, I only have two full sets of clothes and a spare t-shirt! My Recruit uniform, the ones I'm wearing now and... that stupid black tank top with the silver tribal pattern on it that Leon snuck into my bag just before I left... Gad, I dread to think what he's got planned... What's so special about tomorrow anyway!?"

"I don't know, but it says you need to find a fancy dress costume," he said, reading the note over her shoulder, "I guess that means that you're going shopping tomorrow, huh?" Maro laughed bitterly.

"With what, Fresh air?" she sniffed, Cloud looked confused, "I have no money as it is, and any money I get, had to go towards reapairing my fucking sword!" Cloud reised an eyebrow in question. "I got hurt becaude my sword was to strained and it snapped. Sephiroth didn't have a chanch to stop his sword, so, I got sliced open, big deal. Anyway, back to the subject at hand... What the hell am I going to do about this!?"

"How about you talk to me?" said a voice from behind the bookshelves, Genesis appeared from behind one of them and grinned, "I already have someone who want's to help you, and it is a girl, before you dare to hope that it's a guy." Maro groaned. She knew Genesis well enough to know that whoever he had got to agree to this, would be extremely girly, and into fashion, just to piss her off. A girl dressed in the black suit worn by the Turks stepped out from behind him, smiling sweetly. Her hair looked just ever so slightly ginger, but, that just seemed insulting to Maro, so, she made no comment.

"Hi, I'm Cissnei," said the Turk, still smiling sweetly, "Don't worry, I'm not that bad for this sort of thing, and I won't pick one for you, if you don't want me to."

_Wow... _thought Maro, as she nodded and smiled at Cissnei, _A female Turk... and a nice on at that, never thought I'd see that day... oh well, costume shops, here we come I guess..._

"I guess we should go then..." muttered Maro, shuting her laptop and putting it back into it's cary case, "I'll go put this back then we can head off..."

"Sure, I'll meet you in the entrance hall," replied Cissnei, then she disappeared. Maro stood up and pulled the charger cable for her laptop out of the wall, then preceded to stuff that into the carry case as well. She glanced at Genesis, who just smiled and walked away.

"Gad..." said Maro, smacking herself mentaly, "Hey, do you want to come, Cloud?"

"I guess..." he replied, and stood up, he had already packed away his laptop, "That is, I need to get a costume anyway, whatever it is, I've been invited as well." Maro sighed in relief. At least she knew _one _person that was going.

"Well then, you can dump that in my room if you want," said Maro, Cloud nodded in thanks, "Let's head then, better to get it over with!" With that, the two of them began the relatively short walk back to Maro's room.


	9. Chapter 9 Visits and Costumes

**_Hi again! Hope your enjoying the story so far. A little bit of a twist now, since we'll be following Angeal, for a little bit of this chapter.  
I started writing this chapter in my Admin class, cause I was finished everything else, and, I don't want to keep my valued readers waiting for longer than is necessary. Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter, and please review, Genesis said he'll love you forever if you do..._**

* * *

In less than ten minutes, Maro and Cloud stood in the main entrance hall of the Shin-Ra building, waiting 'patiently' for Cissnei. She soon appeared, just without her Turk uniform. Instead, she wore a bright yellow t-shirt, and a pair of white shorts that stopped about half-way down her thighs. Maro couldn't help but feel just a little overdressed in her red t-shirt and boy shorts that were just below her knees, but, she was comfortable, so she didn't care that much.

"Well then, let's go!" Cissnei said cheerfully, Maro nodded and followed her out of the building, and out onto the main street, "Where should we go... how about... Colt's?"

"Never heard of it," said Maro, she looked at Cloud, who shrugged, he didn't know either, "I'll let you pick, I have no idea where I'm going..." Cissnei smiled, grabbed her hand and began to drag her down the street to the fountain. She turned right, and dragged Maro into a run. Maro grabbed Cloud's arm, dragging him along as well.

((Angeal's P.O.V ~ Time for a little fun, I think))

I was not pleased at all. Not only had I been sent off base by _Genesis _of all people, but I had been sent to one of the most backwater places on the planet, not a backwater as Nibelheim or Gongaga perhaps, but backwater just the same... He had sent me to Costa Del Sol. OK, so it was a nice place, for a well needed vacation, but that wasn't the reason I was there. I was there to pick up a boy named Leon from the orphanage. Genesis decided that this had to be a special occasion, so, he sent me to pick up her 'brother' if you could call him that.

So, to make sure we were back in time for that stupid party, Genesis had requested help from Tseng, who, like the big push over he really is, agreed.

_I swear, all people want to do is annoy me..._ I though, as I walked at a measured pace along the coast front towards what looked like a very old mansion, _There it is... Shiva, it's so decrepit looking... _The bent and buckled wrought iron gates stood open. Yet for some reason, I found this place slightly creepy. I was even less pleased when a small boy ran past me into the grounds of the orphanage, crashing into my side on the way. _Wait a second... my pocket's too light... _Then it clicked. The little rat had stolen my wallet!

"Hey!" I yelled, running after him, but he was already inside, "Damn it..." There was a yelp from inside, and the door flew open, revealing a tall boy with fairly short, brown hair, holding up the boy who ran into me by the collar of his ragged t-shirt. One thing that stood out about this boy was the scar that crossed his nose at an angle.

"I'm assuming that this wallet is yours?" asked the tall boy, I nodded and accepted the wallet, putting it back in my pocket, "I'm sorry..."

"It's fine," I replied, softening up just a little, he let go of the boy, who immediately took off into the orphanage, "Actually, I wonder if you could help me, I'm looking for a boy called Leon Lionheart..." The boy froze, hand reaching behind his back, his eyes narrowed on my Buster Sword.

"I'm Leon, what do you want?" he spat, clearly on the defensive.

"You are SOLDIER... are you here to announce Maro's death, perhaps?" queried a distinctly female voice form behind Leon, "Is that why you're here?" I shook my head.

"Not at all," I replied, Leon seemed to relax just a little as that female stepped out from behind him, a dark grey cloak wrapped around her, hiding even her face from view, "Actually, I'm here to invite Leon to her birthday party... her trainer decided that she deserved one, then decided that I should invite Leon, so, here I am..." Leon looked at the woman, who just nodded and walked away again. "Are you coming, then?" Leon nodded, stepping out of the door and closing it behind himself.

_That was surprisingly easy... _I mused, leading the way back to Tseng and the chopper, _I hope Sephiroth is doing ok..._

((Maro's P.O.V ~ Inside Colt's))

Maro was starting to get just ever so slightly irritated. Looking at costumes was one thing, but being forced to try them an was another thing entirely. So far, Cissnei had had her try on six outfits: a cat (one that was made out ov veyr clingy leather, Maro had grumbled about it for nearly twenty minutes), a Geisha, a Samurai (she had liked this one, but Cissnei had decided that it didn't suit her), a martian, a SOLDEIR 2nd Class, and one of the male characters from 'LOVELESS' Only two of which, she liked so far. The Samurai, and the male from 'LOVELESS'

Cloud was being forced to try on a SOLDIER 1st Class uniform at that moment, but he didn't seem to be that bothered about it. Cissnei, on the other hand, was trying on the cat outfit that she had already tried. Maro was back to browsing shelves and racks, looking for something that wouldn't make her look too much like a girl, she hated that so much that it was scary. She was beginning to think that she would have to go as one of the male characters for 'LOVELESS' after all, when she just happened to look up and spotted a black leather outfit. Not clingy, like the cat had been, but something that wouldn't be too loose either. It's wasn't the leather that had caught her eye, though. What had caught her eye was the slate grey wolf ears and tali that were attached to the outfit.

"Oi, Cissnei, I found one I like!" she called into the back of the shop, Cissnei was beside her like a flash, dressed in the cat outfit, it certainly suited her, "That one up there, the one with the-"

"Grey ears and tail," finished the Turk, grinning at Maro, "I wondered how long it would take you to notice that one." She laughed and took a step back, only to bang into Cloud. Maro spun round at Cissnei's surprised gasp. Her eyes landed on Cloud, dressed in the SOLDIER 1st Class uniform. It fit him perfectly, and, he was blushing just ever so slightly. He looked...

_Sexy much? _was the first thing into her head, then she realised that she was starting to blush, the red tint evident on her pale face, so, to hide it, she looked at the floor, _I hope he didn't see that... what the hell is wrong with me!?_

"How does it look...?" he asked Maro, his voice quiet, "Be honest..."

"You want me to be honest...?" she squeaked, she coughed and looked up, trying and failing to hide the blush that was rapidly getting brighter, her face felt like it was on fire, "Well... uh... *gulps* pretty damn sexy..." Cloud's jaw dropped. "You asked me to be serious!" Cissnei snorted with laughter, then went to find the shop keeper to get down the outfit.

"You're blushing..." he said, still in mild shock from her comment.

"So are you!" she replied, then she started giggling. Silently to start with, but then, as Cloud's blush deepened, she let it go. Her laughter rang through the shop, Cissnei came back with the shop keeper. Maro stopped laughing, but continued to snicker as the outfit was lifted down. She shut up the moment it was shoved into her arms. "Bugger..." Cissnei pushed her backwards until she was stuck inside the tiny changing room. The curtain was pulled closed. Maro groaned, and started to get changed. First on was the trousers, which fit her almost perfectly, the slate grey tail just reaching the back of her knees. Next came the top. It looks just ever so slightly like a SOLDIER 1st Class top, so that was fine with her. She pulled it on over her head, and made sure to yank her hair out of the back of it so that it hung freely down her back once more. The, she donned the ears, which were set upon a black hairband. Then she stepped out so that Cissnei could scrutinize her. Cissnei turned her around, and then smiled.

"It's perfect!" she said, punching the air in victory, "What do you think, Cloud?"

"Uh... it's... really cool-" Cissnei elbowed him in the ribs and hissed at him, "OK, so that's an understetement... it's hot..." It was Maro's turn to go bright red, and this time, she couldn't hide it.

"You're missing part of it," said the shop keeper, handing her a long black leather trench coat, "It suits you, take it and keep it, no one ever wants it anyway."

"T-thank you very much..." Maro stuttered, still blushing, Cloud was rubbing his ribs. The shop keeper walked away, humming to himself.

"Alright, we're all set then," said Cissnei, smiling once more, "Once we get changed we can leave." The three proceeded to get changed, one after the other. By the time the were back at the Shin-Ra building, it was almost half past four in the afternoon. Cissnei left Maro and Cloud in the entrance hall. She said goodbye and hugged them both, before running off towards the exhibit room.

"Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow, then..." said Cloud, rubbing the back of his head, clutching the bag from the costume store, "Bye, I guess..."

"Yeah, I'll see you soon," replied Maro, hugging the blond with one arm before taking off up the stairs towards the elevators, "Hey, Cloud!" she called, stopping at the banister, Cloud looked up "It's kinda early, but, goodnight!" With that, she took off again, leaving poor Cloud blushing in the middle of the entrance hall by himself. Maro practically flew back to her room, just wanting to listen to some music and try to ignore what could possibly be happening tomorrow. She burst into her room, slaming the door shut behind her. She flicked the 'on' switch on her CD player and pressed the play button. She flopped onto the bed just as Gackt - Last song started to play. The last thing she wanted to do was end up depressed since this song reminded her of Leon. She had no clue why it reminded her of Leon, but it did, and that was that.

There was a hard tap on her door. She groaned and sat up.

"It's open..." she called. The door swung open to reveal Sephiroth and Genesis, both looking rather pleased with themselves, "What did you do?" She didn't trust Genesis when he was smiling like that.

"Nothing yet, little one," Genesis replied, tossing a small square box wrapped in dark blue paper at her. She caught it out of reflex, "That's from Angeal, since he's away on a mission tomorrow." Maro shrugged and pulled the papper off it. The box itself was black, she opened that as well, to reveal a small, silver dragon on a thin chain. The door shut, leaving Maro alone with her pendant and her music.


	10. Chapter 10 Author's Note

**_Hey guys, I just want to point out a small change in the first chapter. Maro's hair is now red, due to the fact that too many characters in this have black hair._**

**_Also, while I'm here, I would ask you to please review the story, I need to know if people actually like it or not, so that I know if I should keep it going or just delete it......_**

_**Signed  
**Dead Memories of Final Fantasy_


	11. Chapter 11 Beastie

Maro didn't bother with her alarm the next morning. When it went off, all she did was hit the off button, turn over, and go back to sleep. When she woke up again, it was well after eleven in the morning.

"Aww, crap..." she muttered, sitting up and looking around the small room, "Now all I have to do is kill time til' I have to go to the cafeteria..." She got up and went for a shower, just out of habit, not because she needed to. The hot watter bounced off her back in a steady rhythm, making her dark red hair cling to her body like a second skin. She enjoyed showers, it was always a good opertunity to think and reflect on things that had happened.

_What the hell was all that about yesterday...? _she questioned her subconcious mind, what she wasn't expecying, was to get and answer from something.

_*Depends, child, what did happen?* _Maro jumped, head flying from side to side, looking for the source of the voice. _*Stupid girl, I'm in your head.*_

_Who are you? _she questioned, panicking just ever so slightly, the water continued to bounce off of her back, _Why are you in my head!?_

_*My name is Kiro, I am the wolf demon* _the voice replied, it sounded male, deep, commanding, and just ever so slightly scary, _*I'm in your head, simply because I was put here. You know of a man named Hojo, yes?*_

_Yes, he's the one that injected me with...... HOLD THE PHONE!! Does that mean you've been in my head since I was injected with mako!? He put you in there, didn't he!?_

_*Indeed* _was the curt reply she recieved, _*Any other questions, child?*_

_Not really..._ she said, the panic fading away rapidly, _Not at the moment..._

_*Then I'm going back to sleep* _the voice faded away with each word, until it disappeared altogether.

"I need to speak to someone about this..." she muttered, shutting the water off and grabbing her towel, "Gad, I have a beastie in my head, that's just wierd beyond all reason... and why the hell am I accepting this so calmly!?" She wraped the towel around herself, and headed back into her room to get dressed. She put on the tank top that Leon had hidden in her bag, and her Recruit issue combats. She then towled her hair partialy dry, before brushing it.

Her eyes flicked to the clock on her wall, it read 13:08pm.

"Now what do I-" someone knocked on her door, she stepped over to it, and opened it, ready to tell whoever it was to fuck off. She was caught off guard when she realised that Cloud, of all people, was standing there, "Uh, hey."

"I came to get my laptop..." he said, rather shyly. It looked like he was blushing, just a little.

"Come on in, then," replied Maro, stepping aside so that Cloud could get in, "It's on top of the CD player." Cloud stepped in, going redder still. He grabbed the laptop, and ran bck out the door and along the corridor. "What in the name of Shiva...?" Maro kicked the door shut. She'd ask him later, even if it killed her.


	12. Chapter 12 Family and Gifts

**_Alright, just one little note here, from now on, the story will be set in Maro's P.O.V. It's easier that way, and I'm not getting all confused. Only time I'll do another characters P.O.V is if they know something important to the story line._**

* * *

To say that I was confused was an understatement of epic proportions. Cloud had ran off like a scared cat, I had no doubt that something fishy was going on about tonight, and, worst of all, I had a fucking wolf stuck in my head. At this point, I needed a hug, hell, even a hug from Reno would be better than I could do was sit on my bed for the next three, maybe four hours, and do nothing but listen to music. So, that's exactly what I did.

((5 Hours 22 minutes later))

I was in the process of getting ready for whatever Genesis had planned. I had already straightened my hair, and, in a feeble attempt to look slightly older, I had left it down. It was just above my ass in length, which was a good thing, any longer, and no one would have been able to see the tail. Next, I put on the costume I had purchased the day before, in the same order: trousers, top, ears, tail, and finally, the long trench that came with it. I didn't feel stupid, but chances are that I looked it. I was way past caring though. Zack opened the dividing door a fraction, to see if it was safe to come in.

"I'm dressed, Zack," I said, he sighed in relief, or, what I _hoped _was relief, he came in, and sat on the end of my bed, all I had left to do was apply make-up. I shuddered at the thought.

"What's wrong?" Zack asked, sounding worried.

"Make-up..." I replied, my voice quiet, "What is this all about, anyway?" Zack laughed dryly. I started putting dark grey eyeshadow on.

"You seriously don't know?"

"Nope," I replied, keeping my head still as I started work on the other eye, "Do you?"

"Yeah, it's your birthday!" he blurted, he clamped his hands over his mouth.

"My... birthday...?" I kept going with the make-up, deciding that I should finish that first. After a little effort with eyeliner and foundation, I was done. "That would mean that it's November 23rd... he hasn't planned a fucking party has he!?" Zack just nodded, looking rather disgraced with himself for letting it slip. "I'm going to kill someone for this!"

"He got Angeal to bring Leon!" Zack yelled in an attempt to stop me killing someone, since he was in the immediate vicinity, I could very well turn on him... not a chance, that face is too cute. I was frozen in place, had he just said...

"Leon...?" I asked, he nodded, grinning like an idiot, "Fucking hell, if Leon's here, then I'm not going anywhere, I'll just stay in bed for the rest of my life." Zack grabbed my arm and dragged me out the door. My feeble attempts at resistance had him laughing, but he just kept pulling me along. All too soon, we were standing in front of the cafeteria doors. I was not at all pleased. "Zackary Fair, I now hate you..."

"Don't say my full name," he whined, pouting cutely, I couldn't help but think that he'd been taking lessons from Reno on that, "I feel really old when you do that, Marona Hakashi." I just shrugged. People using my full name didn't bother me, not anymore. It was used far too often when I was still in the Orphanage. In fact, when I was still there, they kept calling Leon 'Squall' and he hated that. I never bothered to ask why.I decided that it was none of my business.

"That doesn't work on me Zack..." I said quietly, but he wasn't listening to me, he was opening the door to the cafeteria, and before I knew what was happening, I was dragged inside be several pairs of hands; Zack's, Reno's, Cissnei's, and, believe it or not, Genesis as well. What I saw next shocked me to hell and back.

The cafeteria had undergone a radical transformation. The tables were lined up along two of the walls for people to sit at. The furthest wall had a long line of tables set up with food across them. From what I could see, every Recruit was there. I could just see the top of someone I though was Cloud on the other side of a large group. The noise level was horrendous. All I couls hear was loud drum and bass music, and people shouting over it, and then it was silent. Everyone had stopped whatever they were doing, and the were looking at me. I went bright red, then made an attempt to hide behind Genesis, who merely stepped to the side again, smiling sadistically.

"You're a fucking sadist!" I hissed at him, he just continued to smile. Then it started. Quietly at first, but with growing volume, the people in the room started singing 'happy birthday'. I don't think I had ever been so embarrassed in my life. That's when Leon appeared. Despite the fact that Zack had told me he would be here, I had thought that he was joking, but, sure enough, there was Leon. Dressed as a Vampire, how original. He walked over to me, smiling cheerfully. He hugged me tightly, hiding my burning face in his chest. For that, I was grateful. I hugged him back. I was very happy to see him, happy enough to cry, and that's exactly what I did. I cried. The tears were hot as they rad down my cheeks, onto his costume. making it all wet.

"Happy birthday, Wolf," he said in my ear, the gathered crowd were just finishing their song, but I dared not look up yet, I was crying for fuck sake, "Hey, you're old enough to drive now!" He was trying to lift my mood, I knew he was.

"I'll never drive, Leon..." I hiccuped, pulling away, my tears gone, "Me + car = BOOM, we've been and had this conversation before, now, for your own sake, drop it." Leon just smiled, then took something out of his pocket. Another small, box, almost like the one that Angeal had sent Genesis round with yesterday. Everyone else had gone back to their previous conversations, leaving me to talk to the small, yet comfortable group around me. I opened the box carefully. Inside it, was a single hoop earring. A small white label marked it as 'sterling silver'. It was coiled round in the form of a small dragon. I grinned at Leon, who seemed pleased with my reaction. I took out the earring that I was already wearing, a small silver ball stud, that I wore for training purposes. I swapped the earrings, leaving the stud in the box, which I shut, and found a pocket to put it in. Then, with a little help from Reno, of all people, I put the new on in.

"I think she likes it," said Zack, stating the obvious. I was going to give him one of my sarcastic replies, but it died in my throat. Zack too, was holding a box out to me. This one was larger, and, when I accepted it from him, it was certainly a lot heavier. Out of habit, I sat on the floor, exactly where I was, and proceeded to open it. I certainly wasn't expecting what was inside.

It wasn't scary, not at all. in fact, it was surprisingly nice. Inside, were some new clothes, of all the things on the planet. I wasn't going to ask how he knew what size of t-shirt I wore, since he had ended up with mine more times than I cared to remember. There were three t-shirts. A black one, a white one, and a bright blue one. Then there was the trousers. Two pairs of trousers. A pair of dark grey combats, and a pair of dark blue jeans. I was more than pleased about Zack's present. I was ecstatic. All I could do to show my thanks was grin like an idiot, and he too, seemed pleased with my reaction.

((25 minutes later))

I had quite a lot of useful items from the group around me. Reno had got me a sword care kit containing polish, dusters and othere things like that, as well as a stuffed moogle toy from Rude. How childish it was, but, I was still very happy about it. Cissnei had decided that I needed to be more feminine, so, she had got me a black and white checked skirt, and a black top with a skull on it to go with it. That was rather shocking, and I knew well enough that I wasn't going to wear it that often. Tseng, had sent a small gift with Cissnei. It was a very nice poem, which had been illustrated with a pack of wolves. Whoever had written it out had done so very neatly, and I made a mental note to thank him the next time I seen him.

The wierdest presents of the evening had to be the oned from Genesis and Sephiroth. Though, judging from the look on Sephiroth's face, he had been harrased into comming to the party. Genesis, had went and got me a copy of 'LOVELESS' despite that fact that i had never expressed any interest in it what so ever. I said nothing, and went on to the one from Sephiroth. That one was just wierd. It was another box, except, this one had holes in the top and sides... and it was _moving_. Once I had opened the box, I think I could have died on the spot. Inside, was a not so tiny German Sheperd puppy. I wasn't just confused, I was shocked, and just a little wary. I looked at Sephiroth for several minutes. He just stood there, acting like had only spent a few gil on the puppy that now sat on my lap, licking my left hand gently. Genesis then hissed something unexpected in my ear, barely audible over the noise.

"He own's the pup's mother," he hissed, "He's trusting you to take good care of the little fella, now that you have an actual appartment."

"What do you mean, appartment!?" I yelled, he flinched slightly.

"You're a SOLDIER now, little one, the appartment comes with the position," he replied, smiling, "You should go thank him, tell him you'll take good care of the pup." I nodded and stood up. Slightly less confused than I had been. I walked over to Sephiroth, I held the pup close to my chest, he was shaking slightly.

"Thank you, Sir," I said above the noise of the ongoing party, "I promise I'll take good care of him." Sephiroth nodded.

"He's house trained," was all he said, before he walked away, leaving me with my new pet. It suddenly hit me, right there, that I had forgotten about poor Cloud, who must have been feeling kind of odd, since he was probably the only one in the room who wasn't a SOLDIER Recruit. However, I had a job to do first, one that wouldn't take any more than five minutes. So, I went in search of Leon.


	13. Chapter 13 Name and Conversation

I found Leon deep in conversation with Zack by the door. When I tapped him in the shoulder, he went to hug me, then stopped dead when he noticed the still shaking puppy. He looked really confused.

"I need to ask you something important, Leon," I said, he raised an eyebrow, "I know that your name is really Squall, but, I was wondering, if... maybe you wouldn't mind if I... called the pup... Squall... after you..." Leon's face was unreadable. I didn't know what his reaction was going to be, but I certainly wasn't expecting the reaction that I got. He laughed!

"Sure, why the hell not!" he replied, still laughing, he ruffled my hair, then proceeded to fuss over the pup, "He's not as cute as I am, but hey, no one is!"

_I can think of someone cuter than you, Leon... _I thought, I dared not say that out loud, I wasn't even sure why I had thought it in the first place, then I realised... _Cloud... _I was begining to think about going to find him, just to see if he was ok. However, I had noticed that Zack was pining, just a little. _It's cause Angeal's not here, aww, poor little Zack. I wonder if he realises that he's acting like a love sick puppy... Never mind that, time to find Cloud! _I looked around the room, to little avail. I couldn't even see his hair. So, I went hunting instead, since he may have been sitting down somewhere. I went all the way around the room, but I still hadn't found him. Irritated wasn't close to covering it.

What I hadn't realised, was that Cloud was right behind me when I stopped looking. I turned around, my head down, and walked into him head first. Little Squall yelped, and my head shot up. I was face to face with the blond, and he looked sort of sad about something, and extremely pale as well.

"What's wrong, Cloud?" I half shouted over the deafening music, "Are you ok?" He shook his head and we both cringed as the music got louder again. I could see the problem plain as day. He didn't like parties.

"Not a party fan..." was his shouted reply, so, I done the only smart thing that I could do, I dragged him over to the canteen fire door, which, for some wierd ass reason, was already open. I dragged him outside with me, into the cool, night air of the staff car park. The sky was pitch black now, and plenty of stars could be seen.

"Any better?" I queried, he nodded, and I set Squall on the ground at my feet. I sat down on the tar and Squall jumped back onto my lap, looking at me pathetically. Cloud sat down as well, looking at the tar as if it was fascinating. I just turned my gaze to the sky, looking for any familiar constelations. It had been years since I looked at the stars this way. I never had the time for it these days. I smiled and, very quickly, Squall plucked up the courage to investigate Cloud's hand. I watched him sniff at it, then, very cautiously, he licked it. Cloud jumped, Squall jumped on his lap, paws on his chest, the most pathetic look on his face.

"What do you want?" Cloud asked, scratching Squall behind the ears, "Is that nice, hmm, do you like that, little guy?" Squall licked Cloud's free hand. "He's so cute, but I know someone cuter, a lot cuter." For some reason, that last comment wrenched my heart out and tossed it across the car park. I had no idea why at the time, but it hurt more that I cared to admit.

"You need to meet his namesake, Leon," I muttered, Cloud looked at me, "Leon thinks he's cuter than this little ball of fluff, but he's got to be the biggest man whore that I know, he only takes second next to good ol' Zack, but Zack is anything but old." Cloud chuckled. He was starting to look a bit happier, that was, I thought, a good sign. That meant that I wasn't that bad, company wise. I hadn't even noticed the wrapped box sitting next to him, until he chucked it onto my lap. I just about wet myself when I opened it. Inside, was a small, red and black leather dog collar. Needless to say, that my mouth was hanging open uselessly.

"You like it, then?" he asked, laughter in his voice, I nodded, "The General told me he was giving you the puppy, so, I decided to get you a collar for him..." I lifted the collar out of the box, and, very carefully, I leaned over to put it on Squall. I could feel Cloud's breath on the back of my neck as I carried out the small task. Withing seconds, I was sitting up again, my face just ever so slightly red.

"Thank you, Cloud..." I said quietly, Cloud just smiled and continued fussing over Squall, leaving me to think. I took the opportunity to look up at the stars again. They offered a little relief from my thoughts of this... party. I honestly wished that Genesis hadn't thrown it, because I knew for a fact that, sooner or later, either Leon or Zack, was going to try to get me to dance. Leon would do it just to annoy me, since I couldn't dance for shit, Zack on the other hand, didn't know that I couldn't dance.

_I think I may just dance willingly this time... _I thought, sneaking a glance at Cloud, who looked like a little kid in a candy store as he continued to play with Squall, _Maybe I can convince Cloud to dance with me, or maybe I could haras Genesis enough to make him dance... Nah, I'll need someone to keep an eye on Squall, and who better than Cloud, Squall seems to like him enough... _I smiled, just ever so slightly.

"What are you thinking about?" Cloud asked, noting my smile.

"Actually, I was thinking about finding some way to make Genesis and Sephiroth dance, just for the hell of it..." I replied, Cloud laughed, "The only drawback is that I would have to dance as well, and I can't dance for shit, the only dance that I can do, is the Caramelldansen line, and even then, I usually bottle out at the last minute..."

"I'll look after Squall if you want to give it a go..." Cloud said hesitantly, he really was such a sweet guy, that was more than you could say about many of the guys in SOLDIER, "Just get someone to video it, that way you can bribe them with it later on." I nodded, a thoughtful expression on my face. That's when I decided to go for it.

"Yeah, I'll do it, and video it!" I hugged Cloud with one arm then almost literaly bounced to my feet, in pretty much the same way Zack would, his traits really were rubbing off on me, "Thanks again Cloud, behave Squall!" I turned and ran back towards the door. I only made it something like seven steps when I ran head first into some poor, unsuspecting idiot who was in my way, knocking them to the ground, and landing on them as well, just to add insult to injury. One thing's for sure, I wasn't expecting to land on who I did, and I really was one of those 'You've Been Framed' moments.

"Are you that pleased to see me, little one?" asked a slightly winded Genesis. He was lying, sprawled out on his back with me straddling his stomach. That was extremely embarasing for me, but he seemed to be taking it all in his stride... metaphoricaly of course, since he wasn't 'striding' anywhere at that moment in time. I jumped up, extremely red in the face. It was only once I got up, that I noticed that Sephiroth was also there, along with Zack and Leon. At least I could put my little plan into action.

"Sorry, Genesis..." I said, offering a hand to help him up, "Need a hand?" He shook his head and stood up gracefully, acting as if he hadn't been knocked to the ground. Sephiroth was, as unbelievable as it seems, wearing a costume, that I assumed Genesis had forced him into wearing. He was dressed as an Infantryman, which, oddly, suited him, but it did look really wierd, after all, Masamune wasn't with him, and he wasn't wearing that long coat. I noted that Genesis was dressed as a pirate, which, once again, rather oddly, suited him.

_What the fuck!? _My mind screamed, I shuddered slightly, but I wasn't cold at all, in fact, I was quite warm. Zack, being the overportective pain in the ass that he was, appeared behind me, and hugged me tightly. Unfortunately, he had me by the throat.

"...-ack... choking..." I hissed out, he dropped his arm away from my throat, and put it around my stomach instead, I coughed, trying to breathe again, "What the fuck was that for!?"

"You shivered..." he mumbled. I snorted with contained laughter. I didn't feel the cold that much.

"Gerrofme!" I hissed, grabbing his arm and using my upper body strength to throw him over my shoulder, and onto his feet infront of me. Sadly, I hadn't seen that bad point of my movement. _I_ was now hugging _him_. Epic fail, would be the words that I would describe it as. Despite the fact that I now looked like a murderer with a victim, I started to laugh, quickly followed by Zack, Leon and genesis, who had noticed that my idea had backfired.

"What's so funny?" asked Sephiroth, he clearly didn't get it at all.

"I think she was trying to make Zack land ass first on the ground," said Genesis, laughter still clearly in his voice, "That is, as I believe you would say, an-"

"EPIC FAIL!" I yelled at the same time as Leon. We both froze. Then we laughed even harder, not laughing at one another, but laughing together, just like we used to back at the orphanage. Between us, we had come up with the 'Epic Fail' expression, on one really bad day in class, when we both screwed up a spelling test. He had shouted 'epic' at the same time I had shouted 'fail', and, thus, 'epic fail' was born. However, the laughter was shortlived, since I remembered my threat about making them dance in the Caramelldansen line.


	14. Chapter 14 Author's Note No2

_**Right, I have some news for my readers.**_

**_Firstly, I want to thank all those of you hwo have stuck by me and reviewed the chapters that are up. I couldn't have done as much as I did without you guys._**

**_Secondly, I'm affraid that I will probably never finish this story. So, i want to know if anyone who has read this would like to take it on as their own fic, 'adopt' it, if you want to call it that. Just let me know if your interested..._**

**_Signed ~_**

_xX-Wolborg-Metal-Snow-Xx (A.K.A - Dead Memories of Final Fantasy)_


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